The Indian Embassy in Brussels has confirmed that a clerical error was made that meant it accidentally banned recovered paper imports from the EU.
As reported by REB Market Intelligence, the European Commission had published a response from India that recovered paper imports were banned. As a result, by default, it became illegal to export cardboard and paper from the EU to India for recycling.
However, umbrella trade association EuRIC has had it confirmed that the entry prohibiting Basel Convention code B3020 materials was a mistake.
The European Union will now wait for confirmation in writing from the Indian Government and will then initiate a corrigendum process to correct the regulation.
This process could take several weeks and effectively means a pause in EU exports of recovered fibre. Exports can still take place from Great Britain, but as Northern Ireland remains part of the EU Single Market, exports cannot take place from there.
